| Heritage World Coin Auctions > Showcase Auction 61465 | Auction date: 20 January 2025 |
| Lot number: 21022 Price realized: 170 USD (Approx. 165 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Bolivia Philip IV "Capitana" Cob 8 Reales 1653 P-E Fine (Shipwreck Effect), Potosi mint, KM21. 6.25gm. Salvaged from the "Capitana" (sunk in 1654 off Chanduy, Ecuador). The wreck of the Capitana, or the lead ship of the Spanish South Seas (Pacific) Fleet, would become the largest loss ever experienced by the Spanish armada. After striking the Punta Santa Elena reefs, The Jesus María de la Limpia Concepción lost a reported 3,000,000 pesos of silver, extended to a total of approximately 10 million pesos when considering the un-recorded contraband and treasure aboard. Sadly, due to the unregistered cargo that was stored atop the anchor cables and foredeck, the crew was unable to use the anchors for safe stoppage. For context, the entire annual silver production in Peru was around 6-7 million pesos, suggesting that the Concepción was carrying almost one and a half years of peso production. For eight years after the wreck, the Spanish managed to salvage a vast majority of the lost 'official' 3 million pesos and would later recover even more coins, causing a scandal due to the mismatch of monetary records. Ironically, and sadly, the main salvager of the wreck was the Concepción's silver master, Bernardo de Campos, who is blamed for the overload of unregistered contraband that contributed to the ship's tragedy. The lowest deck would be unreachable until modern divers and salvaging equipment were used during the mid-1990s. After equally splitting the recovered coins with the Ecuadorian government in 1998, officially around 2,500 coins would appear at auction in 1999. These were almost exclusively Potosí 8 and 4 Reales that were in excellent condition, including countermarked issues (1649-1652), transitional issues of 1652, and post-transitional pillars-and-waves cobs (1653-1654). www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice https://coins.ha.com/itm/bolivia/philip-iv-capitana-cob-8-reales-1653-p-e-fine-shipwreck-effect-/p/61465-30003.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61465-01202025 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
Match 1:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > Showcase Auction 61465 | Auction date: 20 January 2025 |
| Lot number: 21031 Price realized: 380 USD (Approx. 369 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Bolivia Charles II "Piedmont" Cob 8 Reales 1671 P-E XF (Shipwreck Effect), Potosi mint, KM26. 25.22gm. Salvaged from the "Piedmont" (sunk in 1795 in the Lyme Bay, south of England). Ex. Sedwick Treasure Auction 35 (May 2024, Lot 690) As apart of an incredibly large fleet of 300 ships, the Piedmont was bound for the West Indies to suppress a French uprising. The ship was forced into Lyme Bay on November 18th, 1795, due to a hurricane that would scatter and sink all ships located along the Dorset Coast. The Piedmont, along with five other ships (The Aeolus, Catherine, Golden Grove, Thomas, and Venus) would break along Chesil Beach to collectively become known as the 'Lyme Bay Wrecks'. In the 1980's, the slew of wrecks were salvaged by divers Selwyn Williams and Les and Julia C. Kent. They discovered numerous silver cobs attributed to the late 1600s; assumed to be coins that were captured from 17th century wrecks, stored in the Bank of England, and then lost again. www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice https://coins.ha.com/itm/bolivia/charles-ii-piedmont-cob-8-reales-1671-p-e-xf-shipwreck-effect-/p/61465-30006.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61465-01202025 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
Match 2:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > Showcase Auction 61465 | Auction date: 20 January 2025 |
| Lot number: 21033 Price realized: 340 USD (Approx. 330 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Bolivia Charles II "Piedmont" Cob 8 Reales 1678 P-E XF (Shipwreck Effect), Potosi mint, KM26. 25.58gm. Salvaged from the "Piedmont" (sunk in 1795 in the Lyme Bay, south of England). As apart of an incredibly large fleet of 300 ships, the Piedmont was bound for the West Indies to suppress a French uprising. The ship was forced into Lyme Bay on November 18th, 1795, due to a hurricane that would scatter and sink all ships located along the Dorset Coast. The Piedmont, along with five other ships (The Aeolus, Catherine, Golden Grove, Thomas, and Venus) would break along Chesil Beach to collectively become known as the 'Lyme Bay Wrecks'. In the 1980's, the slew of wrecks were salvaged by divers Selwyn Williams and Les and Julia C. Kent. They discovered numerous silver cobs attributed to the late 1600s; assumed to be coins that were captured from 17th century wrecks, stored in the Bank of England, and then lost again. www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice https://coins.ha.com/itm/bolivia/charles-ii-piedmont-cob-8-reales-1678-p-e-xf-shipwreck-effect-/p/61465-30005.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61465-01202025 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
Match 3:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > Showcase Auction 61465 | Auction date: 20 January 2025 |
| Lot number: 21020 Price realized: 170 USD (Approx. 165 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Bolivia Philip IV "Capitana" Cob 8 Reales 1651 P-O Fine (Shipwreck Effect), Potosi mint. 6.98gm. Salvaged from the "Capitana" (sunk in 1654 off Chanduy, Ecuador). The wreck of the Capitana, or the lead ship of the Spanish South Seas (Pacific) Fleet, would become the largest loss ever experienced by the Spanish armada. After striking the Punta Santa Elena reefs, The Jesus María de la Limpia Concepción lost a reported 3,000,000 pesos of silver, extended to a total of approximately 10 million pesos when considering the un-recorded contraband and treasure aboard. Sadly, due to the unregistered cargo that was stored atop the anchor cables and foredeck, the crew was unable to use the anchors for safe stoppage. For context, the entire annual silver production in Peru was around 6-7 million pesos, suggesting that the Concepción was carrying almost one and a half years of peso production. For eight years after the wreck, the Spanish managed to salvage a vast majority of the lost 'official' 3 million pesos and would later recover even more coins, causing a scandal due to the mismatch of monetary records. Ironically, and sadly, the main salvager of the wreck was the Concepción's silver master, Bernardo de Campos, who is blamed for the overload of unregistered contraband that contributed to the ship's tragedy. The lowest deck would be unreachable until modern divers and salvaging equipment were used during the mid-1990s. After equally splitting the recovered coins with the Ecuadorian government in 1998, officially around 2,500 coins would appear at auction in 1999. These were almost exclusively Potosí 8 and 4 Reales that were in excellent condition, including countermarked issues (1649-1652), transitional issues of 1652, and post-transitional pillars-and-waves cobs (1653-1654). www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice https://coins.ha.com/itm/bolivia/philip-iv-capitana-cob-8-reales-1651-p-o-fine-shipwreck-effect-/p/61465-30010.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61465-01202025 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
Match 4:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > Showcase Auction 61505 | Auction date: 12 May 2025 |
| Lot number: 24123 Price realized: 460 USD (Approx. 408 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Bolivia Philip IV "Maravillas" Cob 8 Reales 1653 P-E XF (Shipwreck Effect), Potosi mint, KM21, Cal-1503. 21.50gm. Accompanied by COA #193. Salvaged from the "Maravillas" (sunk in 1656 off Grand Bahama Island, The Bahamas). The Nuestra Señora de Las Maravillas was the almiranta of the 1656 treasure fleet. Bringing a large amount of treasure officially, and likely lots in contraband as well, it carried much of the silver salvaged from the Capitana, wrecked two years before off modern Day Chanduy, Ecuador. Bad weather and unexpected shallow waters claimed the ship and most of its crew. Considered by some a cursed treasure, it once again found itself in the bottom of the seas, with some half of it recovered by the Spaniards, with the remaining cargo only rediscovered centuries later. After Bob Marx first initiated the salvaging of the wreck in the 1970's, some rare transitional pieces from the Potosi Scandal came to market, alongside rare Colombian silver Cobs. The second main salvaging brought many gold Cobs to market in the 1990's, with some believing the main hull is yet to be found. www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice https://coins.ha.com/itm/bolivia/bolivia-philip-iv-maravillas-cob-8-reales-1653-p-e-xf-shipwreck-effect-/a/61505-24123.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61505-05122025 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
Match 5:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > Showcase Auction 61465 | Auction date: 20 January 2025 |
| Lot number: 21008 Price realized: 500 USD (Approx. 486 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Bolivia Philip III "Atocha" Cob 4 Reales ND (1598-1621) XF (Shipwreck Effect), Potosi mint, KM9. 7.38gm. Salvaged from the "Nuestra Señora de Atocha" (sunk in 1622 off Key West, Florida). Sold with original tag and Treasure Salvors photo-certificate 85A-229121 The Nuestra Señora de Atocha was the Admiral Galleon of the Tierra Firme Fleet, a twenty-eight-ship fleet carrying an unprecedented amount of treasure from the Americas. Sailing from Havana bound to Spain on the 4th of September 1622, the armada was hit by a massive hurricane in the Florida Keys, most of the fleet being decimated and the treasure sinking to the Atlantic seabed. The Spanish efforts to retrieve the precious cargo weren't fruitful, which led to the scattering of the vast amount of treasure across the Florida coast with subsequent hurricanes. The original manifesto of the Atocha was impressive: 24 tons of silver in 1038 ingots, 180,000 Pesos in silver coins, 582 copper ingots, 125 gold bars and discs, 1,200 pounds of worked silverware and other goods; and that's only what was officially transported, since smuggling treasure to avoid taxes was very common in the period, with some estimating that a large percentage of the total cargo was in contraband. In 1969, treasure hunter Mel Fisher began a long-lasting, 16-year quest to locate the treasure. Over the years, isolated coins and artifacts were found scattered across Florida's "treasure coast", many given to investors who funded the operation. In 1973 three silver bars were found and matched to the original 17th century manifesto, leading the crew closer to the main wreck site. By 1980 a significant part of the Santa Margarita had been located, counting with gold bars, silver coins and jewelry. On July 20th, 1985, the motherlode was located, when divers found a "reef of bars". The main pile of the Atocha provided countless artifacts which quickly became immersed in Florida's pop culture and would later become perhaps the world's most famous shipwreck treasure in history. www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice https://coins.ha.com/itm/bolivia/philip-iii-atocha-cob-4-reales-nd-1598-1621-xf-shipwreck-effect-/p/61465-13012.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61465-01202025 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
